Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament

2018 is the centenary of the first women gaining the vote for the UK Parliament. I’ve been helping research and write this interactive exhibition at the Houses of Parliament for designers Metaphor, using the collections of the Parliamentary Archives. The stories range from the banned women watching the Commons through a ventilator in the attic, to the assaults of the suffragettes and the struggle for equal treatment – and a decent sized room – once in Parliament. And the stuff is great – that’s the banner the suffragettes unfurled from the Commons Gallery, a waitress on the terrace, and a police note about Emily Davison breaking windows – she was a serial offender! The stairs wind up the Victoria Tower, built for the Archives. The exhibition opens in June in Westminster Hall.